Ride Entertainment (Booth #5124) excitedly announced Wednesday afternoon at a press conference that a new custom-designed steel coaster from Gerstlauer Rides GmbH (Booth #4831) will open at Cotaland in Austin, Texas, in late 2022. Called “Palindrome,” which is a word or phrase that reads the same backward and forward, the ride will feature a 95-foot-tall vertical lift hill, 1,230 feet of track (2,080 feet traversed), and a top speed of 51 mph.
Matt Hughey, senior manager of Cotaland, said Cotaland will offer some 20 rides when it opens next year, but “Palindrome” will be the signature attraction. The coaster will feature two unusual attributes. The first is a “hop stall” on the ride’s vertical spike—a bump in the track that the ride’s trains roll over before stopping at the top of the spike, then roll back over in reverse as they begin a backward trip over the course. The element will provide additional airtime to riders.
The second attribute is that “Palindrome” will be the first steel coaster in the United States in which the ride vehicles actually cross over an active road while the coaster is in operation.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring the first Infinity shuttle coaster to the United States,” said Siegfried Gerstlauer, managing director of Gerstlauer. Cotaland park is located at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack.